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AS A demoralised England were ground into the dirt in Nottingham, the decision to drop Sam Curran for this horrendously one-sided third Test appeared more calamitous with every passing over.

India were not only toying with Joe Root’s men as they piled up the runs over 110 gruelling overs, but also getting miles into the legs of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes, three bowlers who have all suffered from injury this summer and who England need fit and fresh for the final two Tests of the series.

There was Ben Stokes, too, fresh from his acquittal in Bristol and the man who dislodged 20-year-old all-rounder Curran for this match.

All four bowlers are similar – right-arm, medium-fast and capable of swinging the ball when conditions suit. In Curran, though, England dispensed with a left-armer whose unique angle and encouraging start to life in Test cricket, including a man-of-the-match performance in the series opener in Birmingham, has caused India’s batsmen plenty of problems.

The decision to recall Stokes after his court case was, on sporting grounds, the right one even if he’s looked rusty in this match.

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But at the cost of Curran? That was the wrong call. They would have been better to discard Adil Rashid.

England are loathe to go into any Test without a spinner but Rashid has been shown up over the past few days for exactly what he is – a decidedly-average red-ball bowler.

Leg-spinners do offer variety and he picked up four wickets in this match, including Virat Kohli during India’s first innings.

However, they have come at the cost of 146 runs and he has looked every inch a man who has not played a single minute of Championship cricket this summer. Indeed, this is the eighth time in 13 Tests Rashid has conceded 100 runs or more in a single innings.

England v India: Adil Rashid has picked up four wickets in this match but at the cost of 146 runs (Image: GETTY)

It appears that, for all his improvements in white-ball cricket, the Yorkshireman was picked on the back of one delivery – the so-called ‘ball of the century’ against Kohli in the final ODI at Headingley.

At least Moeen Ali, thanks to the fractured finger sustained by Jonny Bairstow yesterday, may be back for the fourth Test in Southampton. That would ostensibly be as a specialist batsman but Moeen’s ability as a spinner would also be handy, especially as his 19 wickets at an average of 23 were key in helping England win the 2014 home Test series against India.

If he does return to the team then Rashid should be dispensed with, allowing Curran to come back in.

And if conditions in Southampton suit two spinners why not take another look at Jack Leach? The Somerset spinner made an encouraging debut against New Zealand in Christchurch earlier this year, when he came in for Moeen.